Would an increased federal minimum wage affect Nevada?

Presidential campaign proposals to increase the federal minimum wage could affect Nevadans — but only if it goes up high enough.

Vice President Kamala Harris’s campaign has said if elected, the Democratic presidential candidate will work with Congress to raise the federal minimum wage, currently set at $7.25 per hour. The law was last changed in 2007 — it completed the last step increase in July 2009.

Since then, cumulative inflation has gone up 46.6 percent, according to the Federal Reserve of Minneapolis, giving the minimum wage much less buying power.

Nevada’s minimum wage, however, is higher. The Silver State reached $12 per hour on July 1, the last increase as set in a 2019 state law. In 2022, voters approved a constitutional amendment to set that wage. Previously, the state offered a two-tiered system that allowed employers to offer a lower minimum wage for employees with qualifying health benefits.

Representatives for the Harris campaign did not respond to requests for comment specifying what federal minimum wage she would support. Her proposal is tacked onto a larger economic policy to draft legislation that would remove taxes on tips for hospitality and service workers.

A rising federal minimum wage in Nevada would only change things for the lowest paid workers in the state if the federal wage goes beyond $12. According to the Nevada Office of the Labor Commissioner, the state would still enforce its minimum wage but the employer would be vulnerable to federal complaints if they did not reach the minimum set in the federal law.

Harris’ campaign is also mirroring a “no tax on tips” policy proposal first introduced by Republican presidential candidate and former President Donald Trump, who introduced the concept at a June rally in Las Vegas. At first, Democrats and other groups, like Culinary Local 226, decried the proposal as pandering for votes with little material effect on workers.

But Democratic members of Congress in Nevada have nonetheless signed onto bills in the House and Senate. Culinary now says it supports the proposal along with banning sub-minimum wages for tipped workers. Nevada is one of seven states without an alternative minimum wage for tipped workers, while other states allow employees to pay as low as $2.13 hourly if they earn tips on the job.

Thirty states and Washington D.C. have a minimum wage greater than the federal standard, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. The highest is D.C. at $17.50 per hour.

Some neighboring states in the Southwest are already above the federal minimum wage: California ($16), Arizona ($14.35) and Oregon (as low as $13.70, depending on the county). Utah and Idaho’s minimum wage equals the federal minimum.

Contact McKenna Ross at mross@reviewjournal.com. Follow @mckenna_ross_ on X.